‘So slowly over time I have practiced this feeling of FOMO, this shift to not being where I thought I wanted to be, often staying home with the kids while I live vicariously through my friends and their cool insta stories. And it has faded, dimmed, that feeling that I'm missing out. I started to focus simply on what I was doing and all the loveliness in that.’
Read More‘Girls naturally mature quicker and grow up faster anyway but now they are being bombarded with the wrong kind of messages during the soul searching part of their journey, they are having to deal with things they are not emotionally ready for. They are becoming confused and lost. Body image is a BIG issue.’
Read More‘The breastfeeding relationship between a mother and their child is so personal and intimate, only that beautiful dyad know what’s right. Whether you breastfeed for a few days or a few years, it’s about the two of you and doing what’s right for you both.’
Read More‘This hit me like a train the other day. I was sitting there thinking how me and the hubby desperately needed a date night, some time alone to ourselves, some time to reconnect and look each other in the eyes and feel the love. I kept thinking about how easy it all used to be.’
Read More‘It is impossible for me to support a family in this intimate way without loving them. It’s not like loving your spouse, child or friend but it’s definitely love. It’s an emotional, private, personal and incredibly special time for the family and I get to be a part of it.’
Read More‘Oh the shame, the shame of a child who doesn’t sleep all night, right??…Well I have had experience with two of these. My darling son didn’t sleep through until he was three and a half and my sweet daughter, now nearly four, has only just started doing the odd full night. Not ideal right? No, definitely, not ideal. Wrong? No not at all and there’s the important difference.’
Read More‘I am an avid reader of all things birth and parenting. I literally gravitate towards these shiny books covered in children and bumps. While my friends are reading cool fashion biographies and literary fiction, I can always be found losing myself in the world of parenthood. There are many, many books out there. For every single thing to do with birth and parenthood, you can pretty much find a book on it. This in itself can be a bit daunting. So I thought it might be a nice idea to share some of my favourite books.’
Read More‘Oxytocin is like a voyeur. Watching everyone else from a distance, checking who is paying too much attention, who is around, is it safe, are things relaxed, oh wait, maybe I need to back off...’
Read More‘Giving someone time says, 'I care about you'. I care what you have to say, what you're feeling, what you're going through and I care about all the little details of your life that you only really hear about when you spend time together and the generic conversation openers have all run out.’
Read More‘Imagine what it would feel like to totally and utterly believe in yourself? Imagine how you would behave in the world? Confident, beautiful, strong, powerful, decisive, life grabbing, fearless.’
Read More‘Have you ever been listened to? Really listened to? I don't mean going out with with your girls on Friday night, downing prosecco and putting the world to rights. I mean, one on one, no interruptions, no judgement, just being heard? No one trying to tell their story, waiting for you to finish, no comparisons, just someone who is completely engaged with what you're saying, cares about what you're saying and quietly listens to you?’
Read More'Pregnancy hormones soften the brain and body and allow right-brain activity to dominate. If a woman is nurtured during her pregnancy and allowed to surrender to this state, her whole body will act better during labour. Although medicine can help some women, it also hinders this particular opportunity; because of it's risk-reductive approach to childbirth it keeps women in a left-brain state of mind.'
Read More‘Since I was little you've been my rock, my super safe place where I can go when I need to feel loved and reassured. We've been through all sorts together through my lifetime and you've always stayed strong for me, protected me and given as much of yourself to me as you can and then a bit more. As I've grown up, through my teens and my twenties, our relationship has evolved and we went from mother and daughter to friends. Best of friends, a friendship like no other.’
Read More‘There has been a noticeable shift in birth preparation. Women seem to think that they have to do something to give birth. Get informed, get aligned, breathe in a certain way, like they're taking a test they need to pass. Everyone seems to have forgotten that birth is a natural process, an absolute right of passage, as natural for the body as going to the loo, it is a bodily urge to release your baby and bring them into the world. You don't have to do anything.’
Read More‘You can't afford to get caught up in all the usual high expectations you have placed on yourself. No, you won't be able to have everything together all the time and always finish that to do list. You won't be able to be the perfect wife, daughter, sister or friend.’
Read More‘I can't beat myself up forever but I can make sure I never feel like that again and so that's what I did. I became a doula and had an amazingly healing second birth. I'm not saying everyone should run out and train as a doula, although the experience has been life changing for me, but I would say, forgive yourself, go gently and get the right support for next time.’
Read More‘Her ‘surge’ passes and she eventually calms down and returns to her Zen-like state. Maybe it was just a tough one. In my relief I briefly think about offering paracetamol as a joke but don’t take the risk. She pads back to the bedroom and I return to Bourne.’
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